The Unfilmable

bnt

Have any of you read a book that you would consider unfilmable? I'm thinking of stories that can't be filmed in their existing form, and would to be changed almost beyond recognition.

One example: several Tom Clancy books have been filmed, but I don't think they'll be making a film of Debt Of Honor, for one simple reason: the ending.

An airline pilot, angry at Japan losing the war, crashes his 747 in to the US Capitol, killing the President and nearly all members of the US government. Clancy predicted (or inspired?) the use of airliners as weapons.

Even though they already have a film made, I still think Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is essentially unfilmable as written, since it mixes children's and adult themes too closely. It's a story for young adults that features scenes of shocking torture and depravity, themes of humanism and iconoclasm, and, at the end...

sex.

They're going to have to rip the heart out of it, to get it shown in the USA.

(Ironically, I think Asimov's I, Robot would be very filmable - but there's already some piece of crud out there that has the same name.)

Brimmy

Wrong forum... but Perfume springs to mind.

They did make a film though but I haven't seen it so can't comment.

Breezer

Not sure what this has to do with UCD bnt, but meh.

I saw an amateur stage production of His Dark Materials a little while ago. I have to say it was excellent! I can't see why it'd be unfilmable to be honest. Slap a 15A cert. on it perhaps (I'm actually pretty sure I was 15 when I read The Amber Spyglass). I have no idea how stringent the US film censors are, but surely with an appropriate age rating it'd be fine? I don't think they'd even lose too many of their audience, since most people who would've read the books when they were first published would now be in their late teens or early 20s.

The only bit that doesn't really lend itself to film is the bit with the Mulefa, and only because it's very lengthy and the story works fine without it. It was left out in the stage production I saw.

Unfortunately The Golden Compass was a bit rubbish IMO. I don't know if there's plans to film the other two.

Going the other way, was anyone else surprised that Slumdog Millionaire was based on a book? When I was watching it I was actually thinking to myself, "This would never work as a book!" Has anyone read Q & A, and did it work as well as the film?

Pride Fighter

I like films

GobBass

The Battle of Kursk could not be made because the screen would need to be as large as the battle itself.None of the sci-fi battles can match good ol' fashioned long and drawn out tank warfare.

Surprisingly,I could only find two books on it worth adapting into films,but the sheer scale would present a definite challenge.

Waltons

bnt wrote: »

Have any of you read a book that you would consider unfilmable? I'm thinking of stories that can't be filmed in their existing form, and would to be changed almost beyond recognition.

One example: several Tom Clancy books have been filmed, but I don't think they'll be making a film of Debt Of Honor, for one simple reason: the ending.

An airline pilot, angry at Japan losing the war, crashes his 747 in to the US Capitol, killing the President and nearly all members of the US government. Clancy predicted (or inspired?) the use of airliners as weapons.

Even though they already have a film made, I still think Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is essentially unfilmable as written, since it mixes children's and adult themes too closely. It's a story for young adults that features scenes of shocking torture and depravity, themes of humanism and iconoclasm, and, at the end...

sex.

They're going to have to rip the heart out of it, to get it shown in the USA.

(Ironically, I think Asimov's I, Robot would be very filmable - but there's already some piece of crud out there that has the same name.)

Similar problems with Brave New World by Huxley; they've made a few attempts at films before which have generally been terrible. Too much child sex-play in it for it to ever work properly on screen

33% God

bnt wrote: »

(Ironically, I think Asimov's I, Robot would be very filmable - but there's already some piece of crud out there that has the same name.)

It's a love story between Will Smith and a pair of converse.